Senior Director of Foundation Relations

About the role

The Senior Director of Foundation Relations for the West Virginia University Foundation (WVUF) serves as the senior development officer responsible for leading and advancing foundation fundraising across the WVU enterprise. The position provides strategic leadership for the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal of private foundation support and serves as a senior resource to development officers, faculty, academic and administrative leaders, and other institutional partners. The Senior Director is a member of the Central Development Team and reports directly to the Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. The position works collaboratively across WVUF, WVU, WVU Health Sciences, WVU Medicine, academic and administrative units, and other affiliated entities to identify philanthropic opportunities, develop funder strategies, secure foundation support, and strengthen long‑term foundation partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate the WVU Foundation's core values of Trust, Transparency, and Teamwork.
• Lead and manage all aspects of the WVUF Foundation Relations development program, including a comprehensive major gift program and leadership annual giving programming, to generate current gift revenue from foundations.
• Lead and/or coordinate all aspects of foundation proposal development, including solicitation strategy, proposal writing and editing, narrative development, budget and supporting materials coordination, internal review, submission, and follow‑up.
• Establish and maintain clear timelines, responsibilities, and next steps for foundation proposals, ensuring opportunities progress appropriately through the development pipeline.
• Maintain accountability for the health and progression of the foundation portfolio, including prospects under development, active solicitations, pending decisions, funded opportunities, renewals, and future opportunities.
• Coordinate the transition of awarded opportunities to post‑award administration and operations, while retaining responsibility for the ongoing funder relationship and future fundraising strategy.
• Provide strategic guidance on the development and execution of major and principal foundation grant development and solicitation to meet both funder and organizational priorities.
• Manage a portfolio of regional and national foundation funders and prospects, as defined in coordination with the WVU Foundation, through qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Plan, schedule, and complete outreach to foundation prospects and funders to support portfolio and pipeline management.
• Participate in portfolio reviews with the Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations and implement agreed‑upon priorities and strategies.
• Maintain comprehensive working knowledge of the University and health system — including mission, history, and current fundraising priorities — to ensure effective representation of all opportunities and priorities for foundation support.
• Serve as the WVU Foundation's senior subject‑matter resource and advisor on private foundation fundraising and foundation relations.
• Oversee the Corporate and Foundation Relations intern (direct reporting of intern to senior director effective FY28).
• Build and maintain effective relationships with WVUF leadership; the Corporate and Foundation Relations team; WVUF/WVU/HSC/Medical development colleagues; WVU faculty and staff; WVU Medicine clinical and administrative staff; and other institutional partners to align foundation fundraising activities with organizational priorities.
• Build and manage a broad network of relationships with prospective and current funders and engage appropriate unit development colleagues and institutional leaders in funder strategies.
• Serve as a strategic partner to development officers across the WVU enterprise by helping identify and advance foundation opportunities while maintaining clear ownership of the foundation fundraising process.
• Collaborate with the Director of CFR Operations and Support to ensure accurate CRM documentation, prospect and proposal tracking, reporting, gift processing, award administration, and other operational requirements.
• Provide information, direction, and expertise to support consistent foundation fundraising practices across the WVU enterprise.
• Represent WVUF professionally with foundation executives, program officers, community leaders, university leadership, faculty, and other external and internal constituents.
• Comply with all WVU Foundation reporting, documentation, accountability, and data‑management standards.
• Maintain timely and accurate documentation of foundation activity, including contacts, strategies, proposals, reporting requirements, deadlines, decisions, and next steps.
• Participate in Foundation‑sponsored professional development, including but not limited to Plus Delta training, leadership development, and systems training.
• Maintain current knowledge of WVU Foundation, WVU, WVU Health Sciences, and WVU Medicine priorities, programs, leadership, and institutional initiatives sufficient to effectively represent the organization to foundation funders.
• Participate in strategic planning, team meetings, portfolio reviews, and other activities of the Corporate and Foundation Relations team.
• Complete additional assignments and assume additional responsibilities as directed by the Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations and other Foundation senior leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of direct and progressively responsible experience in leadership annual, major, and principal gift foundation relations fundraising and grant writing required.
• Physical requirements: talk and hear; often sit and use hands/fingers; stand, walk, reach, possibly climb/balance, stoop/kneel; close vision required; reasonable accommodations may be